Chiltern Rangers

Inspiring and Enriching Communities

Chiltern Rangers

Enhancing Local Environments

Chiltern Rangers

Inspiring and Enriching Communities

Chiltern Rangers

Enhancing Local Environments

Tom Burt’s Hill

Tom Burt’s Hill has been recognised as a Local Wildlife Site due to the variety of wildlife that can be found on the site in spite of its urban location. It’s a great place to go and get away from the hustle and bustle of town life without having to jump in your car.

The site is near to Wycombe General Hospital and the busy Marlow Hill. Despite its urban backdrop and isolation from the wider countryside, it is an oasis for wildlife. The site has a wide range of important habitats including chalk grassland, scrub and woodland with plenty of dead wood for wildlife.

Best time to visit

If you visit Tom Burt’s Hill at the beginning of May you will be greeted by a spectacular display of cowslips while you listen to a wide variety of birds, as they jostle for the best territories on the site.

Wildlife in the area

Foxes and badgers have set up their homes in the area and evidence of their mainly nocturnal goings on can often be seen on the site. Look for scrapes in the grassland where badgers have been rooting around for worms and grubs, also look out for large holes which emanate the typical pungent smell of the fox. Listen and look for a wide variety of bird life that includes nuthatch, treecreeper and great spotted woodpeckers that take advantage of the many nest holes found within the standing deadwood on the site.

During the summer it is well worth a walk through the grassland to look at the wide variety of flowers found there, if you are lucky you may even see the unusual bee orchid. Also, look out for the butterflies and other insects which feed on the wildflowers. Download the guides below, which are in PDF format, print them or simply view them on your mobile device.

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